Johnny Jewel was originally supposed to be in charge of the musical architecture of everybody’s favourite movie »Drive«. So if the producers had not exchanged him for Cliff Martinez, Ryan Gosling would be racing through L.A. at night followed by synthetic fanfares of fantasy. »Kill For Love« is Chromatic’s definite goodbye to Postpunk. Instead, they devote themselves to pure Synth-Pop with well produced arches of melody and film-like Italo-Disco. To kill for love seems like some sort of ultima ratio in times of postmodern solitude and it allows this one of many bands from the Hipster-capital Portland/Oregon to unpack the big emotions. With your sunglasses on, of course. »Kill For Love« pays homage to the romanticism of boredom. In dark-coloured time lapse, Ruth Radelet sighs with bittersweet nonchalance through clouds of synthesizers. Flanger-riffs à la Cure mix with celebrated apathy by The xx. With their showpiece »Back From The Grave«, Chromatics shoot lyrical retro-rhythms straight into one’s heart. Unfortunately, the 77-minute-long space ride does not exactly develop to the sort of masterpiece one would have expected by listening to their melancholic Neil Young-cover »Into The Black«. Every once in a while, long-term instrumentals strain the attention to the spherical Delirium-Dancefloor. During these bits and pieces of soundtrack you never get around to asking the question whether less is really more, as the aspirated sensitivity of Ruth Radelet will lull your ear cup soon enough. Melancholy has never been so sexy. »Kill For Love« is the perfect ending of a fantastic party in the metropolitan light of dawn. With your sunglasses on, of course.
Kill For Love
